Cereal Chem 58:86 - 89.  |  VIEW ARTICLE
Further Studies on the Nutritional Evaluation of Wheat, Triticale, and Rice Grains Using the Red Flour Beetle.

G. Shariff, P. Vohra, and C. O. Qualset. Copyright 1981 by the American Association of Cereal Chemists, Inc. 

To assess the usefulness of Tribolium in nutritional research, T. castaneum larvae were used to evaluate the nutritional value of genetically different varieties of wheat, triticale, and rice samples. The growth of T. castaneum larvae was not correlated with crude protein, moisture, or ash contents of the tested samples of wheat and triticale. Triticales were significantly better for larval growth than were hard bread wheats and durum wheats but not soft bread wheats. Larval growth on rice samples was also not significantly correlated with crude protein or moisture contents but was negatively correlated (r = -0.65) with the amylose content of test samples. The carbohydrate complex of cereals appears to influence their nutritional value for T. castaneum larvae.